It is a treat to be with you today, although I am, I have to say, very disappointed that your pastor is not able to be with us. We trust the Lord’s providence in that, but it is a disappointment. Nonetheless, I have known of the ministry here for many years. I’ve pastored in Eastern Pennsylvania for, well, since 1985, and we’ve known of you here. Actually, I was here one time for an event; it must have been about 1990, something like that, quite a while ago. But it’s great to be with you and to bring the Word to you today, and we’re looking forward to this evening as well.
If you will, take your Bibles, please, and turn to Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. I will read verses 1 through 15:
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, this is a marvelous portion of Your Word, and we thank You for it. And we pray that today You will open our eyes to it and give us through it an appreciation of the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ and our need of Him. We pray in His name, amen.
It’s difficult, I think, not to sympathize with John the Baptist as we find him in this passage. Israel had long been without a prophet. It had been some four centuries since God had spoken to His covenant people Israel, and Israel was very aware of that. There had been various charismatic figures that had come up in Israel during that time, but it had been 400 years since God had spoken, and Israel knew it.
God had promised to send His servant the Messiah; He would come and He would establish God’s kingdom on the earth. Through Him, God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven, and through Him, the enemies of God would be destroyed and the people of God would be ushered into His everlasting kingdom. God had promised all of that. He had also promised that a forerunner would be sent ahead of Him, and this forerunner would come and introduce the Messiah as He is entering His ministry. This forerunner would be a new Elijah of sorts, as Jesus says, if you will just receive him as such.
Now 400 years had passed since God had spoken, and suddenly now this man named John bursts on the scene with a message: the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The long-promised kingdom of God to be ruled over by the promised greater Son of David—the kingdom is here. It’s at hand. And it was a moment of excitement. We read of it in Matthew chapter three, where John comes and preaches this message of the kingdom. It is both a message of judgment and a message of salvation. God’s kingdom has those two dimensions: that when God’s kingdom is established, His enemies will be destroyed and His people will be saved.
John comes preaching this message of the kingdom, this message of judgment and salvation. And to accompany it, he required baptism as the symbol of repentance. God’s kingdom has this moral dimension to it, and there must be repentance from your sin if you are to follow this God and enter into His kingdom. And so he preached that this Messiah is coming. His fan is in His hand; He’s going to separate the chaff from the wheat and He will baptize with fire. It will be a time of judgment on God’s enemies and a time of salvation for His people.
John’s ministry, then, was really successful by all accounts. There was great excitement. We read of it in Mark’s Gospel that the whole countryside of Judea and all Jerusalem came out to hear him. There was a moment of great excitement in the preaching of John the Baptist as he announced the arrival of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Distinctive Of John’s Ministry
And so the great distinctive of John’s ministry—and this will be important as we work our way through this passage—the distinctive of John’s ministry was he introduced Jesus. He introduced the Messiah. We read of it, I think, at more length in John’s Gospel, in John chapter 1, where John announced the arrival of Jesus, as we read earlier this morning. And then later in that account, John’s own disciples left John to follow after Jesus. Some of John’s disciples were concerned about that: “They’re leaving you and following him.” And John is excited about that. That’s the whole reason I’m here. I’m here to bring the bride to the groom. John is excited over this. This is as it should be. This is why I’m here. God is about to do something wonderful. Messiah has been identified, He’s been presented to Israel, and John, in so many words, is saying, “This is going to be good.”
Well, John continued his ministry, and like any preacher worth his salt, he denounced sin. That got him into trouble, as it often does. Only this time, the trouble was with the king. You remember Herod had taken his brother’s wife, and John said, “Oh, that’s not a sin that we can allow. We have to denounce that sin as well. We’re not going to be silent here.” And so John denounces that sin as well. Of course, that didn’t sit well with the king, and it didn’t sit well with his new wife.
John now is in prison, and he’s frustrated over all of this as things are going on. You can imagine the thoughts that are going through his head as he’s in prison, arrested because of his faithfulness in preaching. “Here I’ve announced the arrival of God’s kingdom, I’ve presented the King to Israel, and now I’m in prison at the hands of this petty, profligate king, probably going to die.” Of course he did; he lost his head for this. “Jesus is out there preaching, yes, but where’s the kingdom and where’s the judgment and where’s the baptism with fire and the destruction of God’s enemies? What is going on here?”
If ever there were a time when the good guys should be winning and the bad guys should be losing, this was that moment. But the reality for John seemed to be the exact reverse, and now John is confused. He’s presented the King to Israel, but now things are reversed from what he expected. And this is when we meet John here in Matthew chapter 11. We might just as well call it a case of unfulfilled expectations. We might even say that John was disappointed with Jesus.
And so confused, in prison, John sends word by his disciples, as we see in verses 2 and 3, and they want to go to Jesus to seek confirmation. Now there have been some who have tried to read this passage in a way that’s kinder to John—that John sends his disciples for their sake and not for his—but that just doesn’t square with the rest of the passage because Jesus picks up on it now and defends John. John here has a moment of doubt, and I don’t think there’s another way to read the passage.
And so he sends his disciples to Jesus: “Are you the one who’s coming or not?” And with a note of reassurance, Jesus provides the answer and points to the evidence in verses four and five. Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them.”
Now what Jesus is doing here is simply citing passages from Isaiah chapter 35, also from Isaiah chapter 61. In those passages, we have the description of the coming kingdom of God. In that kingdom, it will be characterized by these things: the fallen order of things will be turned around, and you’ll see the blind receiving sight, the lame walking, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead raised up, and the poor having the good news. That’s what the kingdom will be like.
Now also in those Isaiah passages, there are mentions of the destruction of God’s enemies that will come. Jesus doesn’t cite those, and implicitly then what He’s saying is, “This is enough evidence to show you that the kingdom has come, the King is here,” and those other aspects of the kingdom, He’s implicitly saying they will come later. And so He says in verse six, “Blessed is the one who’s not offended by me.”
But now then, having said that, and John’s disciples then returning with the answer, Jesus, in order to clear John the Baptist of any misunderstandings at this point on the part of the crowd, Jesus turns to the crowd in verses seven and following to clear John’s name. As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king’s houses. Well, what then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,” and here He cites Malachi chapter three in verse one, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before me.”
Jesus says here, in effect, “John had questions, he had doubts, he has a moment of confusion, but don’t discount John. Don’t discredit John. He is a prophet. No, he’s more than a prophet. He is himself the subject of prophecy.” And Jesus cites Malachi, and there are echoes here of Malachi chapter 4 and Isaiah chapter 40 as well that prophesy the same. So John is a prophet, yes, but he’s more than a prophet. He’s the one the prophets said would come and prepare the way of the King.
No One Greater Than John The Baptist
Well, then at verse 11, Jesus takes it a step further, as if that weren’t enough. And Jesus makes this remarkable statement about John: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” That’s just a remarkable statement, astonishing. Of all of the people who have been born in history up to this point, Jesus says John is the greatest of them all. He’s greater than Abraham. He’s greater than Moses. He’s greater than great King David. He’s greater than the prophet Isaiah. He’s greater than all of them. John is the greatest of any who have been born.
Now to follow Jesus’ point, we have to understand the criterion that He’s using here for making that kind of assessment. Just why is it John is greater? What is it about John that makes him greater than everyone else who came before him? After all, there are some great ones. There’s Abraham; there’s Moses; there’s David. It’s hard to beat that. So just what is it about John the Baptist that makes him greater than all of them?
And the answer, of course, is what we have in this passage, and that is that John is the forerunner of someone who’s still greater. That’s verse 10: “This is he of whom it is written,” quoting Malachi, “‘Behold I send my messenger before your face who prepares your way before you.'” And then verse 13: “All of the law and the prophets prophesied until John.” You see that? All the prophets prophesied until John. They all said the kingdom is coming. They all said the King is coming. They all gave this wonderful hope of the coming King who would establish God’s rule on earth. And all of that prophecy came to a stop with John because John said, “Here He is.” John didn’t prophesy the coming of the kingdom; John presented the King to Israel. He announced His arrival, and Jesus says now, because John had that role of announcing the King, that makes him greater than all the others. Other prophets have foretold the King’s coming; John is unique in that he announced His arrival.
Now, it’s absolutely essential that we see this. The implications are massive, and it takes us to the whole point of the passage. What made John the greatest was the clearer witness that he bore to Jesus. And because of that, he was the greatest of anyone who had ever lived.
The Least In The Kingdom Of Heaven Is Greater Than He
But now that has some implications. Once you’ve said that—John’s the greatest of all who lived because he bore greater witness to Jesus—once you’ve said that, you’ve said something more. If announcing Jesus is what made John great, well, what does that say about us on this side of things? That’s what Jesus addresses in verse 11: “Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Now here Jesus is clearly speaking of the kingdom of God and its inaugurated aspect. It will come in its climactic culmination—its climactic aspect in His future return—but yet in His first coming, the kingdom of God was inaugurated. Jesus says this many times, and yet at the same time He tells us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” The kingdom is here, and the kingdom is yet to come. The kingdom is now, and the kingdom is not yet. It’s this inaugurated aspect where God’s rule has come to earth and yet it’s still contested and it’s still being rebelled against. And yet the kingdom is here and it’s making its way throughout the earth. Jesus speaks of that, of course, in the parables of the kingdom in Matthew chapter 13.
He’s speaking of that aspect of the kingdom. And He says that now in this inaugurated phase of the kingdom, the least—the least in the kingdom of heaven—is greater than John. What in the world does that mean? Well, if what made John great was the clear witness that he bore to Jesus, well, then we on this side of the cross and the empty tomb and this side of Pentecost, we can bear even clearer witness to Jesus than John did.
The newest Christian—he may not be able to expound it like a professional theologian, this whole matter of the kingdom come and yet not yet, this matter of Jesus coming in and dying and suffering and then being raised from the dead and then Pentecost and then the church age and then the culmination of the kingdom in His return—all that’s easy stuff for the least of us. John saw Jesus as the Messiah; he even, I think, saw the cross when he recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But he tripped up on all that; he couldn’t put it all together, and he’s in prison and he’s confused by all of that. But looking back from our perspective, that’s easy stuff for us.
What made John great was that he bore greater witness to Jesus than any before him. And we on this side of things, we bear even greater and clearer witness to Jesus than John did, and Jesus is therefore saying the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater even than John the Baptist. It’s essential again that we see this. What made John great was the clearer witness that he bore to Jesus. What makes the least in the kingdom of heaven greater than John is that we bear even greater and clearer witness than he did.
Now this adjusts our thinking considerably in some important ways. We have all kinds of reasons we think we’re great. And you might think it’s your beauty, your good looks; you might think it’s your muscles; you might think it’s your bank account, your standing in the community. We’ve got all kinds of reasons we think we’re great. Jesus says what makes a person great is the clear witness that he bears to Me. True greatness is found only in association with Jesus. And here, Jesus says, is where you find your greatness.
Well, now once you’ve said that, you’ve said a lot more. And I want you to see then the subtle shift in thinking that goes on somewhere in all of this conversation. Jesus began talking about the greatness of John the Baptist. And then He proceeds to talk about the greatness of the least in the kingdom of heaven. And somewhere along the way in that conversation, you begin to think: true greatness doesn’t belong to John and it doesn’t belong to us; it belongs to the one to whom we bear witness.
What made John great was the witness he bore to Jesus. What makes us great is that we can bear even greater witness to Jesus. If what makes us great is our association with Jesus, well then who, after all, is the truly great one? You see that subtle shift of thinking that goes on in the passage? Imagine they’re standing there hearing this: “John is the greatest man who ever lived because he introduced me.” Who does He think He is? Imagine I come here and I get up in the pulpit and I say, “Your pastor is the greatest man who ever lived because he introduced me.” It’s repugnant. It forces you to think, “Who does Jesus think He is?”
That, by the way, is a wonderful question to keep in your mind as you read through the Gospels and you hear Jesus speak. Who does He think He is? What is His self-assessment? As we listen to Jesus, as you read through the passage, it begins to sink in. The greatness of John the Baptist is really not the point here. It’s the greatness of Jesus. True greatness belongs to Him.
And this is just where Jesus pushes us in this passage. It forces us to make some evaluations and to decide and to render some judgment. Does He have the right to talk like this? For anyone else, it’s just repugnant, presumptuous. And we’re forced to decide, and He’s pushing us. And this is Matthew’s purpose in recording this for us. He’s directing us to think about Jesus and to consider His claims. Either Jesus is a lying deceiver, or He’s nuts—the level of someone who thinks he’s a poached egg or something, thinking He’s great when He’s not—or He really is the greatest whoever lived, and you’re pushed by this to make some judgments and to render some decisions about Jesus.
And Jesus’ point in all of this talk about John the Baptist and his greatness and being greater than John the Baptist, Jesus’ point in pushing all of that is to insist that what makes Him great is that He is the long-awaited King who was prophesied and whom John has introduced. And so the whole point of the passage turns. It’s not about the greatness of John the Baptist after all; it’s about the greatness of Jesus.
The Unique Greatness Of Jesus
In fact, if you think that’s strange, I want you to notice that this passage in Matthew’s Gospel is not at all unique in that regard. It’s a regular feature of the Gospel of Matthew from beginning to end. Look at the first verse of Matthew’s Gospel: “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.” Have you ever read a novel that begins like that or a biography? What a boring way to begin a book. “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.” Why does Matthew begin that way? He begins that way to make this great announcement that Jesus is the one who is prophesied and He’s the one who fulfills it. He is David’s greater Son who is to come. He is the promised seed of Abraham. And then he goes on to give the Jesus genealogical credentials. Son of, son of, son of, born of, and so on.
And then through all of Matthew chapters one and two, we’re reminded with that repeating phrase that Matthew gives us, “This happened and this happened, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet saying.” And this happened, and this happened, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet saying. And all through the infancy narratives that Matthew gives us, we are reminded over and again that Jesus is the one who fulfills the expectations that have long been given to Israel. And then at the climax of it, you have these great men from the East coming to worship Him.
And then we come to Matthew chapter three. Jesus is baptized and we have a voice from heaven, God Himself speaking, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” We get to Matthew chapter four. We find that Jesus has authority and power even over Satan. Satan tempts Jesus and he tempts Jesus and he tempts Jesus, and unlike his tempting us—he keeps tempting us until we finally break down and give up—he tempts Jesus until finally the tempter himself wore out and had to leave. That’s Matthew chapter 4.
Matthew chapters 5 to 7, we have the Sermon on the Mount and we find Jesus speaking in a strange way: “You’ve heard it said… but I say to you. You’ve heard it said,” and here He’ll quote Moses, “but I say to you. You’ve heard it said, but I say to you.” Over and again, “You’ve heard it said, but I say to you.” Who does He think He is to talk like this? And we get to the end of the sermon and all the people are astounded that He spoke with such authority.
And then we get to Matthew chapters 8 and 9, and we have that cluster of miracle accounts where Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, made the blind see, healed a paralytic, calmed a storm. And here we’re presented with one who, just by an act of His sheer will, just by an act of His word, just by speaking calms a storm. Just by speaking raises the dead. Just by speaking heals the sick. Just by speaking casts out demons.
And at the climax of that account, we find somebody bringing this paralytic to Jesus, who had a hard time and couldn’t get to Him himself, of course, and so he’s carried to Jesus, and he’s led in, and he gets there, and finally he’s before Jesus, and of course he wants healing. Jesus looks at him and says, “Son, your sins be forgiven you.” And the Jews: “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Who do you think you are? Who can forgive sins but God only?” And Jesus says, “Yeah, that’s right. And just so that you know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, take up your bed and walk.” And you get through these accounts, and who is this man?
You get to Matthew chapter 10, and it’s the same theme being pushed. Jesus here sends His disciples out on their maiden voyage, their first mission. He sends them to the house of Israel and not beyond, but the perspective is larger than that. And much of the language through it talks about their coming ministry and the years beyond it. And He says, “You go out there and you preach the gospel of the kingdom. But recognize up front that I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. And you’re going to be persecuted. You’re going to be put to death. You’ll be carried before magistrates. But it’s okay because you’re doing it for Me.”
And in fact, this message of the kingdom is all important. Eternal destinies are decided by it. “He that confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father in heaven. He that denies me before men, I’ll deny him before my Father who’s in heaven.” And here He is with the authority to assign eternal destinies.
As with all of that in the background, we come to chapter 11 here, where we have this incident which turns finally on the true greatness, which is Jesus alone. And then we find, for instance, verse 13: “All the law and the prophets prophesied until John.” That is to say, all of history has been rushing to this point that you now see in Me. All of it’s been looking ahead until I’m here.
And then verses 16 and following, Jesus denounces these cities that have rejected Jesus. They’ve seen Him perform miracles, they’ve heard Him preach, and yet they’ve rejected Him. And Jesus says it will be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than it will be for you. And here He claims that eternal punishment will be assigned and measured to each person according to what they deserve. And you who have been exposed to Me, and you’ve heard the gospel of the kingdom and you’ve rejected it, it will be worse for you than for Sodom and Gomorrah. Your eternal destiny, He says, turns on your exposure to and response to Me.
We get later in chapter 11, we have this marvelous passage beginning in verses 25 and following, where Jesus claims exclusive and exhaustive knowledge of God. “All things have been handed to me by my Father. No one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” He has exclusive and exhaustive knowledge of God, and He alone is able to communicate the knowledge of God to others. And so He says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He is the one who can give peace with God.
We get to chapter 12, a fascinating chapter in Matthew’s Gospel, and it starts out with this Sabbath controversy. Jesus is walking on a Sabbath day with His disciples along the edge of a grain field and His disciples are hungry and they grab some grain and throw it in their mouth and they’re munching on it as they go by. The Pharisees are all over them and they’re saying, “Your disciples are violating the Sabbath. They’re harvesting on the Sabbath day.”
And what’s interesting about the passage, I think it’s just fascinating about the passage, is that Jesus does not give the easy answer. The easy answer was, “Let up, guys. They’re not harvesting; they’re eating. And in fact, Moses’ law provides for the poor. They can grab the grain as they walk. Moses’ law provides for all of that. Let up.” That would have been the easy answer. But that’s not what Jesus does. He doesn’t do that at all. Instead, what He says: “No, my disciples are an exceptional case because they’re with Me.” And at the climax of the passage: “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
And then you read through the rest of chapter 12: “A greater than Jonah is here. A greater than David is here. A greater than Solomon is here. In fact, I’m greater than the temple.” And then we read on in chapter 12 and Jesus casts out demons. And He claims that this is evidence that He has come to usher in the kingdom of God, and He is ransacking the kingdom of the devil and taking people for Himself.
Now we get to chapter 13. Jesus inaugurates the kingdom, these parables of the kingdom. And He makes astounding claims, like, at the culmination of this kingdom, “I’ll send my angels.” Who talks like that? “I’ll send my angels.” The angels of God come at His behest. And when they come, they’ll divide humanity right and left and sheep and the goats. And I’ll assign to every man his eternal destiny.
And you read through Matthew’s Gospel and you find that Matthew chapter 11 here is not unique. Perhaps it is more pointed in a certain way, but it’s not unique. It is written to present to us the greatness of Jesus. You read through all of these accounts and you hear Jesus Himself speak. And in His words here, there is something of His own self-assessment and what His claims are on us. And you read through and you can’t help but ask yourself, “Who is this man? Who is this man who claims that human greatness is determined by association with Him? Who is this man who claims authority over absolutely every realm—death, disease, demons, all of it? Who is this man who claims that He will assign eternal destiny?” And then, in fact, the degree of your punishment will be determined by your exposure to and response to Him. Who is this man who claims that He’s the only way to God, the only one who can give rest and peace with God?
And when you ask those questions, you see, well, that’s Matthew’s purpose in writing his Gospel. He’s writing to confront us with the unique greatness of Jesus. And that continues through the end of his Gospel. We get to the climax of Matthew’s Gospel, like the others; we find Jesus coming under arrest, whipped, put on a cross, and none of it’s a surprise to Him. “I’ve come,” He says, “not to be served. I’ve come to serve and to give my life a ransom for many. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. In my death, I take the place of my people and pay the debt of their sin so that they may be right with God.”
And then He’s astoundingly raised from the dead. And then He stands before all of His people and He says—remember His claim? This is the climax of Matthew’s Gospel—”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and bring the nations in subjection to me.” This is the one to whom every man and woman in the history of the world is obliged to submit because He alone is the accomplished Redeemer. He is the only one who God has sent. He is the only hope. He bore the sins of His people. He has made satisfaction to God, and only through Him can we find acceptance.
And in fact, John’s message about Jesus coming and bringing judgment, yeah, that’s true too. It hasn’t happened yet, but it will. He refers finally to Jesus’ return when He comes in glory and will separate the wheat from the chaff and the goats from the sheep, and He’ll assign eternal destiny. And as Jesus pushes that theme, and as Matthew pushes that theme in recording all of this for us—this theme of the unique greatness of Jesus—we’re pushed into a corner. We’re forced to decide. We have to render some judgments. According to Jesus, our entire eternal destiny hinges on our response to Him.
The Gospels have this primary function: to confront us with the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ, to present Him in such a way that we’re impressed, and to present Him in such a way that we see His greatness and we learn to bow and we learn to trust. And the whole message of the Gospel, then, of Matthew’s Gospel, comes to us and says, “Jesus, Jesus is just exactly the Savior you need. He’s the greatest. He’s the most important person in all the history of the world. He’s King over it all. He’s King over the world. He’s King over history. He’s the one to whom you one day will be held accountable. He is the one you desperately need, whether you recognize it yet or not. And He’s the King.”
And right now, right now, He offers terms of acceptance. Bow before Him. Acknowledge Him as King. Trust in Him to do for you what you could never do for yourself, and He’ll have you. Or we wait and we acknowledge His kingship by force when He comes later. And Matthew writes to say, then, here’s the one who’s worthy of your entire submission, and He’s worthy of your complete trust.
And so we conclude with verse 15: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father.